Powering up the FS-4
by Brian Fischer
on
Mar 8, 2006 at 7:13:28 am
Has anyone else experienced this issue? What happens is this:
Regardles of wether or not my FS-4 is powered by a fully charged battery OR the AC adapter, the unit will not boot up. This was an intermittent problem initially, but is now permanent. The backlit LCD will light, but hangs there.
Anyone?
Thanks,
Brian Fischer
Independent Videographer/DV Filmmaker
"On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero." - Tyler Durden
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Bill King on Nov 16, 2008 at 1:30:47 am
I am experiencing this now. I opened the unit and it boots when
the hdd cable is not pressing on the mainboard. I think there may
be solder joint issues, or board traces which have opened when the
board flexes slightly. I initially thought it was the IDE44 cable.
I am going to inspect the mainboard and see what I can find. My
employment is developing and build custom PCD fixtures, so this is
up my alley. However, internal traces opening up due to board flex
is a quality issue which I would have thought Focus would have
recalled the units for repair.
If I learn the root cause of this failure I will make another post
here.
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Rob Bruijgoms on Nov 29, 2008 at 11:38:51 am
Hello Bill,
I do have this problem too. I have bought an FS-4 (I think it used to be a 40 GB unit) which is upgraded by the previous owner to a 100 GB. He used an Apple MERCA 655-1222A harddisk for this. At startup the screen turns blue and that's it. I can't even turn it off. I have to unmount the battery for that...
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Bill King on Nov 30, 2008 at 7:00:30 pm
Your symptoms are extactly the same as mine. My hard drive is not the issue, as I have pulled it and checked it in another FS-4. The initial inspection we processed did not show any surface defects on either of the two circuit boards. If it were something that I had another board blank to repelace, I would probably x-ray it to examine the inner traces.
From what we can tell, the board which the HDD IDE cable mounts to experiences an unwanted amount of flex. Depending on how each specific unit is assembled (such as who assembled it and how the IDE cable sits) different units experience different failure rates for this. Without test point schematics of this board, we cannot be certain of this statement, but I believe a fairly large number of these units are experiencing failure due to inner layer trace seperation caused by this mechanical stress.
So, when I get a chance, I will be sending this unit in for an estimate of repair. If the repair cost is too much, I will probably trash it. The FS-4 HD's have come down in price lately.
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Rob Bruijgoms on Nov 30, 2008 at 9:10:23 pm
Hey Bill,
Thanks for your reply!
It's a bit too technical for me...I understand that this is work field?
What do you mean with "inner layer trace separation"?
I think about sending it in too. Check this link to dvinfo.net. In my fifth (currently my last) post there is a link to a small movie where you can see the malfunctioning. It's nothing spectaclcular though...
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Bill King on Nov 30, 2008 at 9:41:56 pm
Yes, my "real" job is as a senior product engineer for a well known
mixed signal IC company. I do a lot of PCB design and debug work
as part of my daily job.
Although these circuit boards are very thin, they are multi-layered.
There can be many conducting layers stacked with insulating layers
in between each one. Unwanted material is chemically etched away and
inner layer connections are made with holes which are plated with
conducting material.
The failure mechanism I refer to is when a trace on one of these
inner layers breaks, cracks usually, and then there is no connection
through that circuit anymore. It is interesting that there are
quite a few people with the same failure profile. This implies there
is a design flaw with the board and a failure is occuring in the same
place for all of us. Call it a weak link.
My unit is rather old. I hope that a new version of this board has
been designed and would replace the existing component.
It is difficult to design a unit like the FS-4, where weight is an
issue, as well as strength for shock handling. Add to this the
stress when ever a battery is put on and off. I think that Focus
should have been able to improve on the design. I think they did,
as I hear much less about this type of issue on newer models.
Unfortunately, this type of failure is a life failure type, and
really depends on how much you use the unit, how often you heat and
cool the unit, and how rough you handle it.
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Rob Bruijgoms on Dec 1, 2008 at 6:07:05 am
Thanks for your clear answer Bill!
Well, this sounds like the whole motherboard (the two boards stacked upon one another) needs to be replaced? Do you have any idea what this will cost? I've already sent a mail to Focus Europe (since I'm in the Netherlands), I hope to hear an answer today and get back when I know something more on this.
Re: Powering up the FS-4 by Rob Bruijgoms on Nov 30, 2008 at 9:12:03 pm
Hey Bill,
Thanks for your reply!
It's a bit too technical for me...I understand that this is work field?
What do you mean with "inner layer trace separation"?
I think about sending it in too. Check this link to dvinfo.net. In my fifth (currently my last) post there is a link to a small movie where you can see the malfunctioning. It's nothing spectaclcular though...
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/focus-enhancements-firestore/138633-fs-4-does-not-boot.html#post970601
